Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

Transcription

1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science CHAPTER PREVIEW Psychology traces its roots back to Greek philosophers reflections on human nature. Psycholo - gists initial focus on mental life was replaced in the 1920s by the study of observable behavior. As the science of behavior and mental processes, psychology has its origins in many disciplines and countries. Psychology s most enduring issue concerns the relative contributions of biology and experience. Today, psychologists recognize that nurture works on what nature endows. The biopsychosocial approach incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. Al - though different perspectives on human nature have their own purposes and questions, they are complementary and together provide a fuller understanding of mind and behavior. Some psychologists conduct basic or applied research; others provide professional services, including assessing and treating troubled people. With its perspectives ranging from the biological to the social, and settings from the clinic to the laboratory, psychology has become a meeting place for many disciplines. The scientific attitude reflects an eagerness to skeptically scrutinize competing ideas with an open-minded humility before nature. This attitude, coupled with scientific principles for sifting reality from illusion, prepares us to think criti cally. Two reliable phenomena hindsight bias and judgmental overconfidence illustrate the limits of everyday intuition and our need for scientific inquiry and critical thinking. Psychologists construct theories that organize observations and imply testable hypotheses. In their research, they use case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation to describe behavior; correlation to assess the relationship between variables; and experimentation to uncover causeeffect relationships. This chapter answers several questions that students commonly ask about psychology. These include concern over the simplification of reality in laboratory experiments, the generalizability of research in terms of culture and gender, the purpose of animal studies, the adequacy of research ethics, and the potential misuse of psychology s knowledge. Mastering psychology requires active study. A survey-question-read-rehearse-review study method boosts students learning and performance. 1

2 2 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science CHAPTER GUIDE Introductory Exercise: Fact or Falsehood? What Is Psychology? Lectures: Aristotle s Psychology; Psychology s First Experiments; History of Psychology; William James Founding Father of American Psychology Exercises: Eminent Psychologists; Psychologist as Scientist; Psychology as Science (PAS) Scale PsychSim 5: Psychology s Timeline Videos: Discovering Psychology, Updated Edition: Past, Present, and Promise; Discovering Psychology, Updated Edition: Applying Psychology in Life Project: Interviewing a Psychologist Project/Lecture: The Twentieth Century s Most Eminent Psychologists 1. Describe the evolution of scientific psychology from its early pioneers to contemporary concerns. Early philosophers, such as Aristotle, theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality. Their thinking about thinking continued until Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. He sought to measure the fastest and simplest mental processes. William James brought psychology to America, writing an important psychology textbook and mentoring Mary Whiton Calkins, the first female president of APA, and Margaret Floy Washburn, the second female president of APA. Lecture: Challenges to Psychology s International Development 2. Describe the evolution of psychology as defined from the 1920s through today. Psychology developed from the more established fields of philosophy and biology. Its pioneers included Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, Austrian personality theorist Sigmund Freud, and Swiss biologist Jean Piaget. Until the 1920s, psychology was defined as the science of mental life. Wundt s basic research tool was introspection. From the 1920s through the 1960s, American psychologists, led by John Watson and later by B. F. Skinner, both behaviorists, dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as the science of observable behavior. In responding to Freudian psychology and behaviorism, humanistic psychology emphasized our growth potential and the importance of meeting our needs for love and acceptance. In the 1960s, psychology began to recapture its initial interest in mental processes. Cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience explore scientifically the ways we perceive, process, and remember information. Today, psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Behavior is anything an organism does. Mental processes are the internal subjective experiences we infer from behavior, for example, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. Psychology is growing and globalizing. Exercises: Self-Assessment on Psychology s Big Issues; Is Human Nature Fixed or Changeable? 3. Summarize the nature-nurture debate in psychology. Psychology s biggest and most persistent debate concerns the nature-nurture issue: the controversy over the relative contributions of genes and experience to the development of psychological traits and behavior. Today, contemporary science recognizes that nurture works on what nature endows. Our species is biologically endowed with an enormous capacity to learn and adapt. Moreover, every psychological event is simultaneously a biological event. Lectures: Illustrating Psychology s Complementary Perspectives: The Case of Andrea Yates; The Biopsychosocial Approach and Obesity; The Allure of the Neuroscience Perspective; Complementary Perspectives; Human Freedom and Choice Exercises: The Scientific Approach; Applying Psychology s Specific Theoretical Perspectives Instructor s Video Tool Kit for Introductory Psychology: Why Do People Help? Explaining Behavior; Postpartum Depression: The Case of Andrea Yates

3 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science 3 4. Identify the three main levels of analysis in the biopsychosocial approach, and explain why psychology s varied perspectives are complementary. The different systems that make up the complex human system suggest different levels of analysis: biological, psychological, and social-cultural. Together, these levels form an integrated biopsychosocial approach. Psychology s varied perspectives therefore complement each other. Someone working from the neuroscience perspective studies how the body and brain work to create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. evolutionary perspective considers how the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes. behavior genetics perspective considers how heredity and experience influence our individual differences. psychodynamic perspective views behavior as springing from unconscious drives and conflicts. behavioral perspective examines how observable responses are acquired and changed. cognitive perspective studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. social-cultural perspective examines how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures. Lectures: Psychology s Important Role in Basic Scientific Research; Psychology s Applied Research Videos: The Many Faces of Psychology; Psychology: The Human Experience, Module 42: Psychological Principles in Everyday Life 5. Identify some of psychology s subfields, and explain the difference between counseling psychology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry. Some psychologists conduct basic research. For example, biological psychologists explore the link between brain and behavior, developmental psychologists study our changing abilities from womb to tomb, and personality psychologists investigate our persistent traits. Other psychologists conduct applied research. For example, industrial/organizational psychologists study behavior in the workplace and suggest ways of boosting morale and performance. Psychology is also a helping profession. Counseling psychology assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being. Clinical psychology involves mental health professionals who study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders. Psychiatry sometimes involves medical treatments as well as psychological therapy. Psychology relates to many disciplines, by connecting with fields ranging from mathematics to philosophy and by aiding those disciplines. Why Do Psychology? Lecture: Misremembering the Causes of Behavior Exercises: The Limits of Human Intuition; The Hindsight Bias and Predicting Research Outcomes; The Overconfidence Phenomenon; The Confirmation Bias Videos: Discovering Psychology, Updated Edition: Understanding Research; Segment 3 of the Scientific American Frontiers series, 2nd ed.: Aliens Have Landed? 6. Define hindsight bias, and explain how overconfidence contaminates our everyday judgments. The hindsight bias, also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon, is the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. Finding out that something has happened makes it seem inevitable. Thus, after learning the results of a study in psychology, it may seem to be obvious common sense. However, experiments have found that events seem far less obvious and predictable beforehand than in hindsight. Sometimes, psychological findings even jolt our common sense.

4 4 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Our everyday thinking is also limited by our tendency to think we know more than we do. Asked how sure we are of our answers to factual questions, we tend to be more confident than correct. Students predictions of their future behaviors are similarly overconfident. Experts predictions of world events made with 80 percent confidence were right less than 40 percent of the time. Exercises: A Psychic Reading; Critical Inquiry and Psychology Lectures: Your Teaching Strategies and Critical Thinking; Critical Thinking 7. Explain how the scientific attitude encourages critical thinking. The scientific attitude reflects a hard-headed curiosity to explore and understand the world without being fooled by it. The eagerness to skeptically scrutinize competing claims requires humility because it means we may have to reject our own ideas. This attitude, coupled with scientific principles for sifting reality from illusion, helps us winnow sense from nonsense. It carries into everyday life as critical thinking in which we examine assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, and assess conclusions. How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions? Exercise: Astrology and the Scientific Method Project/Exercise: Testing Proverbs PsychSim 5: What s Wrong With This Study? 8. Describe how psychological theories guide scientific research. A useful theory effectively organizes a wide range of observations and implies testable predictions, called hypotheses. By enabling us to test and reject or revise a particular theory, such predictions give direction to research. They specify in advance what results would support the theory and what results would disconfirm it. As an additional check on their own biases, psychologists report their results precisely with clear operational definitions of concepts. Such statements of the procedures used to define research variables allow others to replicate, or repeat, their observations. Often, research leads to a revised theory that better organizes and predicts observable behaviors or events. Lectures: Case Studies; Surveys, Evaluation Apprehension, and Naturalistic Observation; Predicting Elections; Survey Research and Random Samples Exercises: The Wording of Survey Questions; Conducting a National Survey; Choosing a Random Sample Project/Exercise: Naturalistic Observation in the Dining Hall 9. Compare and contrast case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation, and explain the importance of random sampling. The case study is the method by which psychologists analyze one or more individuals in great depth in the hope of revealing things true of us all. While individual cases can suggest fruitful ideas, any given individual may be atypical, making the case misleading. The survey looks at many cases in less depth and asks people to report their behavior or opinions. Asking questions is tricky because even subtle changes in the order or wording of questions can dramatically affect responses. In everyday experience, we are tempted to generalize from a few vivid but unrepresentative cases. The survey ascertains the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a population by questioning a representative, random sample. Naturalistic observation consists of observing and recording the behavior of organisms in their natural environment. Like the case study and survey methods, this research strategy describes behavior but does not explain it. Exercises: Correlation and Predicting Exam Performance; Correlating Test-Taking Time and Performance; Illusory Correlation; The Gambler s Fallacy Lectures: Understanding Correlation; Misinterpreting Correlations; Extraordinary Events and Chance: Your Birth Date in Pi?

5 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science 5 Project: Evaluating Media Reports of Research PsychSim 5: Statistics: Correlation 10. Describe positive and negative correlations, and explain how correlational measures can aid the process of prediction but not provide evidence of cause-effect relationships. When surveys and naturalistic observations reveal that one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate. A correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of relationship. A positive correlation indicates a direct relationship, meaning that two things increase together or decrease together. A negative correlation indicates an inverse relationship: As one thing increases, the other decreases. The correlation coefficient helps us to see the world more clearly by revealing the extent to which two things relate. Perhaps the most irresistible thinking error is to assume that correlation proves causation. Correla - tion reveals how closely two things vary together and thus how well one predicts the other. However, the fact that events are correlated does not mean that one causes the other. Thus, while correlation enables prediction, it does not provide explanation. Feature Film: Homer Simpson and Illusory Correlation 11. Describe how people form illusory correlations, and explain the human tendency to perceive order in random sequences. Illusory correlation, the perception of a relationship where none exists, often occurs because our belief that a relationship exists leads us to notice and recall confirming instances of that belief. Because we are sensitive to unusual events, we are especially likely to notice and remember the occurrence of two such events in sequence, for example, a premonition of an unlikely phone call followed by the call. Illusory correlation is also a result of our natural eagerness to make sense of our world. Given even random data, we look for meaningful patterns. We usually find order because random sequences often don t look random. Apparent patterns and streaks (such as repeating digits) occur more often than people expect. Failing to see random occurrences for what they are can lead us to seek extraordinary explanations for ordinary events. Lecture: Description, Prediction, Explanation Exercises: Introducing the Experiment; Random Assignment; Main Effects and Interactions or It All Depends Project/Exercise: The Placebo Effect Videos: Program 1 of Moving Images: Exploring Psychology Through Film: The Scientific Attitude: Testing Therapeutic Touch; Module 3 of Psychology: The Human Experience: Experimental Design; Segment 1 of the Scientific American Frontiers series, 2nd ed.: Tackling a Killer Disease Instructor s Video Tool Kit: Schachter s Affiliation Experiment; Does Self-Confidence Intimidate Others? 12. Explain how experiments help researchers isolate cause and effect, focusing on the characteristics of experimentation that make this possible. The experiment is a research method in which the investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process, while controlling other relevant factors. If a behavior changes when we vary an experimental factor, then we know the factor is having a causal effect. In many experiments, control is achieved by randomly assigning people either to an experimental group, which is exposed to the treatment, or a control group, which is not exposed. Often, the research participants are blind (uninformed) about what treatment, if any, they are receiving. One group might receive the treatment, while the other group receives a placebo (a pseudotreatment). Often, both the participant and the research assistant who collects the data will not know which condition the participant is in (the double-blind procedure). The placebo effect is well documented. Just thinking one is receiving treatment can lead to symptom relief.

6 6 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science The independent variable is the experimental factor that is manipulated. It is the variable whose effect is being studied. The dependent variable is the variable that may change in response to the manipulations of the independent variable. It is the outcome factor. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Lectures: Field and Laboratory Experiments 13. Explain the value of simplified laboratory conditions in discovering general principles of behavior. The experimenter intends the laboratory experiment to be a simplified reality, one in which important features can be simulated and controlled. The experiment s purpose is not to re-create the exact behaviors of everyday life but to test theoretical principles. It is the resulting principles not the specific findings that help explain everyday behavior. Lectures: Differences in Cultural Norms; Gender Differences 14. Discuss whether psychological research can be generalized across cultures and genders. Although culture shapes our specific attitudes and behaviors, the principles that underlie them vary much less. Our shared biological heritage unites us as members of a universal human family. Studying gender differences is not only interesting but also potentially beneficial in preventing conflict and misunderstanding in everyday relationships. It is important to remember, however, that psychologically as well as biologically, women and men are overwhelmingly similar. Exercise: Animal Rights Video: Segment 4 of the Scientific American Frontiers series, 2nd ed.: Return to the Wild Instructor s Video Tool Kit: Ethics in Animal Research: The Sad Case of Boee the Chimp; Ethics in Human Research: Violating One s Privacy; Death of a Subject: The Ethics of Mental Health Research 15. Explain why psychologists study animals, and discuss the ethics of experimentation with both animals and humans. Some psychologists study animals out of an interest in animal behaviors. Others do so because knowledge of the physiological and psychological processes of animals enables them to better understand the similar processes that operate in humans. Because psychologists follow ethical and legal guidelines, animals used in psychological experiments rarely experience pain. The debate between animal protection organizations and researchers has raised two important issues: Is it right to place the well-being of humans above that of animals, and what safeguards are in place to protect the well-being of animals in research? Many professional organizations and funding agencies have developed extensive guidelines for the humane use of animals. Ethical principles for the treatment of human participants urge investigators to obtain informed consent, protect subjects from harm and discomfort, treat information about individuals confidentially, and fully explain the research afterward. Lectures: Invasion of Privacy; Research Ethics; Psychology and Human Values; Interrogations and the Use of Torture; The Instructor s Perspectives and Values Exercise: Observing Versus Interpreting 16. Describe how personal values can influence psychologists research and its application, and discuss psychology s potential to manipulate people. Psychologists values can influence their choice of research topic, their theories and observations, their labels for behavior, and their professional advice. Knowledge is power that can be used for good or evil. Applications of psychology s principles have so far been mostly for the good, and psychology addresses some of humanity s greatest problems and deepest longings.

7 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science 7 Tips for Studying Psychology Exercise: Eliciting Metaphors for Learning and Teaching 17. Describe several effective study techniques. To master information, one must actively process it. People learn and remember material best when they put it in their own words, rehearse it, and then review and rehearse it again. An acronym for Survey, Question, Read, Rehearse, and Review, SQ3R is a study method that encourages active processing of new information. Distributing study time, learning to think critically, listening actively in class, overlearning, and being a smart test-taker will also boost learning and performance.

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